MUNCIE — Any time the shot clock ticked down to eight seconds, the Valparaiso bench shouted in unison “seven, six, five,” and so on. They yelled across the Worthen Arena court, counting down to let teammates know they needed to get a shot off.

They might as well have whispered, “Guys, we’re in trouble.”

Ball State (5-2) knocked off Valparaiso 69-66 Saturday behind another solid defensive effort. Head coach James Whitford said his big guys, specifically freshman Trey Moses, helped establish control in the paint.

"You can’t be a great team if you don’t have the ability to impact the rim,” Whitford said. “I’ve just never seen one. We’re much bigger in that way than we ever have been.”

That chant from Valparaiso was heard often early in Saturday’s game as Ball State’s stingy defense forced the better part of five long shot clocks. In the first half, Valparaiso shot just 31 percent from the floor and an even 30 percent from 3-point range.

Moses recorded three blocks in the game, all in the first half, and sophomore Francis Kiapway had another. Bo Calhoun, Franko House and Jeremiah Davis each added one to bring the team total seven for the game.

Though the Crusaders had a size advantage, the Cardinals were able to match up and often out-play their bigger opponent. But then halftime came and Valparaiso opened with an 8-0 run to take a 31-29 lead, its first since leading by two in the first minute.

For the first time in the entire game, Ball State looked like the underdog it was — its energy dipped, the players looked frustrated and winded. The only thing whispering at that point was Ball State’s offense.

“We didn’t come out as assertive as I wanted us to in the second half,” Whitford said.

Junior Alec Peters, who finished the game 5 of 9 from deep with 28 points, was able to get more than enough room on screens during two big Valparaiso runs. The Cardinals tried to switch on him defensively but struggled to keep a man in Peters’ face.

"We lost our responsibility on him three or four times,” Whitford said. “It’s not easy to do because you’re always changing the rotation of who is guarding him.”

Ball State finally got some life after back-to-back 3-pointers courtesy of Ryan Weber and Kiapway with less than 17 minutes left to play. Though they only scored seven points each, the buckets came at big moments and got the Worthen crowd as fired up as it's been all season.

Ball State extends its home record to 3-0, and will next host IUPUI at 7 p.m. Tuesday. Weber said he’s been glad to give the Muncie crowds something to cheer for this season.

“An exciting win like this against a team picked to win the Horizon League,” Weber said. “It was great to do it in front of our home crowd like that.”

Over the final two minutes, it was Moses’ offense, not his defense, that really impacted the game. He found himself stuck in the paint with nowhere to pass, so he turned around and chucked up a fadeaway mid-range shot that fell. Somehow.

He scored Ball State’s final field goal of the game, a quick layup, to open a three-point lead over Valparaiso — a team that returned five starters from last year’s NCAA tournament roster, is favored to win the Horizon League and received votes in the most recent Associated Press poll.

As the Crusaders looked to tie the game with just over 10 seconds to play, the Cardinals counted down, hoping for a fourth-straight win. It's not just the team's fifth win this season, or its third at home, it's another step in the right direction under Whitford in his third year with the team.

“We didn’t win very much,” House said of his first two seasons at Ball State. “The culture that we’re building around here and all that is getting way better.”